The Plastics Industry Association is working to make sure federal leaders know of the many ways processors and suppliers are working to support the fight against COVID-19.

A shift from housewares to shields

Housewares molder and outdoor furniture maker Keter North America Inc. is now also making face shields to help protect front-line workers.

Keter converted production at plants in Anderson, Ind., and Milton, Ontario, to begin making shields. Both sites have capacity to mold 50,000 face shields per week.

Keter, an Israel-based company owned by private equity group BC Partners, already had a medical product division, AP Medical, with a major emphasis on making large medical waste containers for hospitals and nursing homes.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, AP led a companywide effort to develop a shield that covers the entire face and can be cleaned and reused.

In addition to the sites in Indiana and Ontario, the shields are being made at Keter plants in Europe and Israel.

Rolling out flood protection

While Midland, Mich., is dealing with days of heavy rains that caused two dams to fail, leading to catastrophic flooding in the city impacting Dow Inc., here's a follow-up to another flooding story that, so far, is turning out much better.

Earlier this year, the city of Detroit invested $2 million in a flexible vinyl Tiger Dam system for neighborhoods along the Detroit River and nearby canals in an attempt to hold back flooding that damaged the neighborhoods in 2019.

Crews finished rolling them out just days before the same rainstorms that hit the Midland area also roared into the Detroit area.